There are many wondrous, enigmatic and fascinating attractions on the Big Island of Hawaii, some better known than others, many out of the way and generally off the beaten track. Tour Guide Hawaii has produced an encyclopedic collection of the most up-to-date information, presented as short GPS-cued videos, in an app downloadable to iPhone and iPod Touch that covers the entire Big Island, highlighting the popular and the uncrowded, the famous and the secluded, the adventurous and the relaxing.

Sulfur Banks/Steam Vents

View along the sulfur banks to Volcano House, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donnie MacGowan

Sulfur Banks, on the crater side of the road, is just one of hundreds of gas seeps on the flanks of the Kilauea summit crater spewing hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and steam. Hematite, native sulfur and gypsum minerals precipitate out of the gas flux streaming through the rocks, making colorful splashes on the outcrops. Children and people with heat or respiratory conditions, or anybody with a weak stomach should be wary of venturing down the road to see this.

Non-sulfurous steam vents, mostly across the road from the crater and at the aptly named Steaming Bluff, result from rainwater percolating down through the ground being boiled by the hot rock beneath and streaming up vents to the surface. There is a short walk to the Steaming Bluff from the Sulfur Banks parking area which comes to a breathtaking view of the crater and more productive steam vents.

Looking past Steaming Bluff at the many steam vents in Kilauea Caldera to the eruption in Halema'uma'u Crater, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park:

Panoramic views of Kilauea Caldera and the Halema’uma’u Crater from the edge of the Sulfur Banks reveal other, numerous steam vents on the floor of the crater. Views of the current eruption in Halema’uma’u Crater are unsurpassed from this overlook…especially at night.

Gazing into the pit of the volcano, a steam vent at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: Photo by Donald B MacGowan